A MALE-PATIENT WITH 47XXY SYNDROME AND LE G ULCERS

We report a case of 47 years old patient who was admitted to hospital because of bilateral leg ulcers for 6 years. Chromosome analysis revea lad XXY karyotype, confirming the clinical diagnosis of Klinefelter's syndrome. Testosterone level was low and Plasminogen Activator Inhibit or (PAI-I) was elevated. The patient was given androgen therapy which resulted in a normalization of the PAI-1 activity. The frequency of le g ulcers in patients with Klinefelter syndrome is between 6 and 12% ac cording to studies. Differents causes would explain the tendency towar ds leg ulcers in Klinefelter's syndrome: conjunctive tissues abnormali ties were revealed in some studies. A higher frequency of venous insuf ficiency is reported in patients with Klinefelter's syndrome, either d ue to the particular morphology (obesity, taller size) or due to an an drogen deficiency. A few arterial dysplasies cases of arteries's legs were described in patients with leg ulcers and Klinefelter syndrome. H aemostasis disorders presented in this case and normalized after andro gen therapy will contribue to the physiopathologic discussion (J Mal V asc 1995; 20 : pages 215-218).